Barat chapel to be demolished

Plan foes can't sway Lake Forest council

April 17, 2007|By Lisa Black, Tribune staff reporter

After months of debate, the Lake Forest City Council voted 8-0 Monday night in favor of demolishing a wing of the former Barat College containing the historic Sacred Heart Chapel to make way for a $125 million development.

After the vote, Lake Forest resident Liz Moore commented, "I think they have turned the preservation of Lake Forest on its head." She was one of about 100 people attending the council session.

The vote came after 31 speakers objected to razing the 83-year-old chapel that is part of the Thabor wing, a part of the main Barat College building.

Dozens of Barat College alumni and preservationists have been pushing the city to preserve the chapel since Lake Forest developer Robert Shaw first announced his plan to redevelop the campus into upscale housing.

Shaw on Monday appealed to the council to overrule the city's Historic Preservation Commission, which last September refused to approve demolition of the chapel. The chapel, named one of the state's top 10 endangered historic objects by Landmarks Illinois, would be razed to make way for underground parking, under Shaw's proposal.

Shaw has proposed spending $125 million on his development, Barat Woods, which calls for building 120 condominiums, town homes and row houses on the 23-acre site at 700 E. Westleigh Rd. Shaw said after the vote that he will apply for a demolition permit.

"I am delighted that we are moving forward with the next of many more steps," Shaw said.

The development would save the sprawling south lawn and portions of Old Main, a 200,000-square-foot building that contains the chapel within the Thabor wing. Under the proposal, the Old Main would be converted into about 50 apartments and the Thabor wing would be demolished.

The Lake Forest Plan Commission tentatively approved Shaw's redevelopment plan last month -- which assumed demolition of the chapel -- but the City Council has the final say.

Shaw, highly regarded within the community for other projects, has not provided any alternative proposal, Lake Forest Mayor Michael Rummel said.

"That's the only plan," he said before Monday's meeting.

Meanwhile, preservationists who decry the chapel's demolition as "cultural vandalism" have collected an estimated 2,000 signatures on an electronic petition to show opposition.

No one, including Shaw, has disputed the chapel's historical, architectural and cultural value. But Shaw said he found no suitable uses for the chapel, which he has said would cost $7 million to $10 million to restore.

David Bahlman, president of Landmarks Illinois, presented an offer made by a philanthropist to pay the costs of investigating design alternatives that would save the chapel. But Bahlman said he has received no response from Shaw or city officials regarding the offer, made by Richard Driehaus, a Chicago investments manager and founder of The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.